Jharkhand Government Unveils Ambitious Solar Energy Policy 2022

Hemant Soren, the chief minister of Jharkhand, announced an ambitious new solar policy on July 5 in an effort to raise clean energy capacity from 45 MW to 4,000 MW over the course of the following five years and draw in investors.

The Jharkhand Solar Policy, 2022 would promote rooftop solar panels for residences in urban areas in addition to creating a better environment for larger plants. People with an annual income of less than Rs 3 lakh may be eligible for a subsidy of up to 80% of the overall installation cost.

According to an official, “The new policy is progressive and investor-friendly. Land rules have been simplified and several other projects such as solar floating projects and canal top solar projects have been introduced to the new policy."

Due to a land dispute or problems with incentives, previous attempts by the state government in 2015, 2020, and 2018 did not significantly affect the planned investment. Learning from past mistakes, the Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) has teamed up this time with the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a non-profit policy research institute, to draft a new policy that aims to generate 4,000 MW of solar energy over the course of the next five years.

Provisions for the Investors

• Single Window System, Payment Security Mechanisms along with a host of other measures to encourage private investors

• Provision of State Level Empowered Committee (SLEC) for approval and decisions of projects above 25 MW

• 1,000 Solar Villages to be developed

• Provision of State Level Screening Committee (SLSC) for approval of projects less than 25 MW at one place

• Exemption in Cross Subsidy and third party as well as captive usage

• Dedicated Solar Policy Cell

• Indexation up to 25 years at the rate of 1% rebate on electricity bill

• Statutory approval within a max of 60 days

• 100% exemption of State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) for the next 5 years

Due to a land dispute or problems with incentive, previous attempts by the state government in 2015, 2020, and 2018 did not significantly affect the planned investment. Learning from past mistakes, the Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) has teamed up this time with the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a non-profit policy research institute, to draft a new policy that aims to generate 4,000 MW of solar energy over the course of the next five years.